Hey guys, SpatialPhoenix here, proving that I'm a lying liar who lies. I was originally going to work on AFOHO's rewrite, but then I got three new ideas, this being one of them, and I just had to write them, before I lost the train of thought that led to them. This is a non-Gamer fic, along with one of my other ideas. This whole story stemmed from a single thought; what would happen if we had a character in Naruto working from the other side. If there is one thing constant about Naruto, it's that it constantly portrays that the world isn't black and white. People aren't black or white. And so, this story was born. A story where one person, gifted with both powerful Kekkei Genkai and the ability to bring out the best in people pulls out a (in my opinion) well-deserved ending to the people of the Elemental Nations.
As that statement suggests, this fic is light, but will address several issues that make it a little gray or even dark at times.
I hope you guys enjoy this story, and without further ado, let the journey begin!
Chapter 1 - In Which A New Light Shines Through The Darkness
When one light is extinguished, another shines. That's a saying I heard a long time ago. Back then, I didn't give it much stock. In my defence, no one ever does, and I was a mere child, reaching my teens. I didn't even think twice about it. Now, I realise that the phrase probably sums up my new existence.
New existence?
Yes.
New. Existence.
That's the only way to describe my current situation.
What do I mean by current situation?
Let me review the facts;
1) Only an hour earlier, from my conscious perspective anyway, my flight to Los Angeles was interrupted, when my plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean, due to the engines spontaneously exploding.
2) I'm 98.35% sure I never made it out of said plane before it fully sank into the water, probably due to the 2-foot spike of metal that was lodged in my abdomen, holding me in place.
3) The last thing I remember was bloody, reddish water filling up my peripheral vision before everything went black.
4) I'm currently awake, and by the looks of things, relatively fine, considering that I was turned into a shish-kebab not too long ago. There isn't even any wound I could feel, but it was bandaged and incredibly sore, along with most of my other body parts.
5) I'm in a hospital room, which my over 200 IQ points told me was not possible, because the area in which we crashed was easily a couple hundred miles out from the California coastline, and there was no way someone had been able to rescue me, who had sunk with it, in time.
6) It's raining pretty heavily outside, which is highly suspicious, considering California, the closest area of civilisation, was mostly desert, and even in the event that I had been taken to one of the non-desert parts, it shouldn't be raining this hard in the middle of July.
7) On the mirror I see in front of me, someone I don't know is looking back at me. A handsome seven year old with with red, slightly spiky hair and dark, onyx eyes, with rather fair skin tone stares back at me. I'm also certain I was fourteen a short time ago, with black hair, green eyes, and vampire-like skin, making me look like a mix of Harry Potter and Voldemort. Yet when I look into the mirror, this image stares back at me.
8) My eyes are incredibly itchy.
9) At the back of my head, I can feel memories that aren't mine, simply sitting in place as if they had been there my whole life. I don't tap into them, I don't want to tap into them, but it doesn't take a genius, which I was, to figure out what had happened to me.
And thus my conclusion; by some forces beyond my comprehension, I had been reborn after my downright brutal demise, and was now... someone else.
All of these new revelations tore at my mind, threatening to devour my sanity, and by force of will alone was I able to shut down my brain, to avoid thinking about it. But I knew this wasn't the end of it. Not when it literally kept staring me in the face.
Now was not the time for that, though. Now I had to focus. I could grieve later. If there was one thing my father had always told me, it was that in dire situations, where you didn't have any semblance of control, you had to be sharp, like a razor, and use every tool in your disposal to find stability. To regain that grip on the situation. And that was what I needed to do.
Which meant I had to dive into the memories that I knew couldn't have been mine, while at the same time, knowing they were. It made absolutely no sense, but in a way, that's how all feelings are. They don't make any sense, they're indescribable.
My internal panic was interrupted by the emergence of new factors, that would pretty much throw any sense of logic out the window. Metaphorically, of course (Although there was a window nearby.) Just the way I liked it, but not when I'm going through post-mortem shock. Like I was right now.
A doctor was factor number one. That wasn't so bad, right?
Wrong.
The doctor himself seemed ordinary enough, though his choice of clothing would seem a little old fashioned, but not by too much. Maybe a decade or so. It was what was tied to the arm that wasn't carrying a clipboard that froze the blood in my (my?) new veins.
A Hiti-Ate. The first letters are caps because of the seriousness of the situation. English translation?
A headband.
A ninja's headband.
From a world that by all means should not exist.
A world filled with bloodthirsty killers, giant animal demons that can nuke cities by blowing a spit bubble at it, and a place where it was normal for children to spit fireballs. A place filled with a lot of good guys, but also one with bad guys that make Hitler look like your first grade bully.
A world I hadn't even given second thought to until my younger sister forced me to watch it.
Then came the second factor, and this one unfortunately proved that;
A) I wasn't dreaming, and my assumption was spot on.
B) The doctor was not a secret anime super fan.
A regal-looking woman walked through the door, her steps silent, and my already frozen blood started leaving my brain.
She had blue hair, and amber eyes that seemed to glitter almost amusedly, and if the origami flower in her hair wasn't a dead giveaway to anyone even remotely fond of Naruto, then the rather iconic cloak she wore was.
Black, with some very familiar red clouds.
Konan of the Akatsuki.
The Avatar of the forgotten god Papyros and Empress of the Paper Maché.
S-Rank.
Dangerous.
Interested in me for some reason, at least enough to warrant a personal visit.
Even more dangerous.
There was a searing pain in my head, and I felt myself slipping away, as if someone was reeling me in.
I promptly fainted.
Konan raised a delicate eyebrow as the boy promptly fainted upon her entry, falling back down on his bed.
She turned to the already cowering doctor, her expression showing that she demanded an explanation.
"M-my L-lady, the boy shows signs of being a sensor, a highly powerful one. The sudden increase in the chakra around him caused his mind to shut down from the overloading signals.", said the man, starting off nervous but falling into step as his training asserted itself.
That made sense, she mused to herself. Odds are, he would be highly paranoid right about now, especially considering how she found him. And if he was a sensor, an untrained and young sensor at that, coming into contact with someone of her reserves wouldn't be a pleasant experience.
What made her even visit this child?
Several reasons, actually, but the most important one was about to be revealed.
"The tests?", she asked calmly.
"All Positive. Confirmed match with the DNA sample provided by our Kami-sama, related on his maternal side."
So she was spot on. She was now faced with a dilemma.
After all, how do you tell your closest friend, a crippled and broken man turning dark due to the injustices of the world, one who had lost everything but her, that he still had family?
That was hard enough.
What came next was harder.
How do you tell that friend, that his family member's life was destroyed by the same people who destroyed his dreams and took the life of his closest friend?
Konan didn't know, but she had to find out, and fast. The boy in front of her, she could almost feel, was the only person who could heal Nagato's broken heart and save him from the new path he was choosing for himself.
"Keep him stable, and send him to our leader's tower, escorted, of course, when he regains consciousness. I'll be taking the medical reports with me."
"Of course, my Lady."
Konan turned around, and disappeared in a paper-themed Body Flicker.
She had all the proof she needed. The news was valid.
Now she had to break it to the bearer of the Rinnegan.
"I'm sorry Konan, I don't think I heard you correctly.", said Pain's Deva Path, his baritone voice having cut through the silence that had fallen for a few moments after his closest remaining friend had spoken to him.
"You did.", she said simply, her expression grim.
He heard her reply, but he didn't respond.
There was no way he had heard her right.
It couldn't be.
It just... couldn't.
"He was clutching this when I found him. He didn't seem to want to let go.", said his companion, handing him a picture.
Rinnegan eyes widened, and the Deva Path trembled slightly as Nagato's shock caused him to lose momentary control.
He knew of that picture.
How could he not?
It was one taken a long time ago, back when he had everything he had wanted.
Peace.
That photo symbolised the last time his family would ever be together.
His mother's kind smile and his father's easy grin were haunting, but not as much as the cheerful little red haired boy in the picture, alongside-
Naomi.
He could still feel her smile, how she told him of all the presents she would bring back home when she left their little household, having been apprenticed to a weaver, who had taken his sister to her ancestral home in order to begin her lessons.
He remembered nodding eagerly and wishing her a safe and happy journey.
Then the war had broken out.
He had never seen her again.
That small hope, one that he himself had submerged under layers of inexhaustible pain, was rearing its head.
She had survived.
But now she was gone, that much he could tell. Taken, just like Yahiko and their parents.
However, she hadn't died in vain, from the looks of things.
He could tell what the bloodstains on the picture meant. He was far from a fool.
She had died, ensuring the survival of her son.
His nephew.
His... family.
His last link to what he used to be.
We are Uzumaki.
He felt the old words, spoken to him by his mother, a long time ago.
Our only creed is that Family means everything.
He had been scared, with all the fighting going on outside their homes.
You know something, Nagato-kun?
He had cried for his sister, worried for her safety.
It is said that as long as one member of our family is left alive, whatever we dream of doing will become reality.
His dearest sister, who had done everything with him. Everything for him.
When our home was besieged by Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri during the War, we were terribly outnumbered.
Who had ventured into the unknown in the hopes of providing their family, especially him, a better future.
Our allies had abandoned us in our time of need.
Who had no doubt been consumed by the ways of the world, just as he had.
But we did not cower.
Who had been there to see his first steps.
We fought.
Who had taught him his letters.
Do you know why?
Who had played with him.
Because we knew that in holding them off, those we loved could make it to safety.
Who had comforted him when he cried.
And with that knowledge in our hearts, we decimated them. Your grandfather sacrificed himself to take out an entire battalion of Iwa Shinobi I so that I might escape.
Who had smiled when he laughed.
The Uzumaki were thought to be destroyed that day, but not without cost. Those three villages lost the war. Because no one who had managed to breach Uzu left there alive.
Who picked him up when he fell.
Such is our strength.
Who fed him when he was young and their parents were away.
Clans like the Uchiha, jealous of this, searched for power within themselves or their self-righteous Kekkei Genkai to reach our level.
Who always had a smile for him.
They failed.
Who gazed at the clouds with him.
Because they didn't look at those around them. Those that they cared for. Those that cared for them.
Who counted the stars for him.
The Uzumaki did.
Who ran into the night to search for strawberries, all because he had cried for them.
And that is why they were able to take out an invading force with less than a tenth of their manpower.
Who had returned later, sratched, bleeding, but with an energetic grin.
Such is the strength of our bonds. Such is the strength of our clan.
As she held out a bushel towards him.
We are but a shadow of our former selves, I agree.
Filled with strawberries of the deepest red he had ever seen.
But your forefathers sacrificed themselves for us because they knew.
Red as her hair.
That as long as there was even a single one of us out there, the Uzumaki clan would reclaim its glory. As long as our family was alive, we would return. That there would be hope.
Red as her lips.
All those who perished at Uzu died with a smile on their faces. Because of their sacrifice, their families could live.
And so, incredibly sweet. All for him.
So don't be afraid. Don't be sad.
But now she was gone.
They're watching over all of us. Protecting us.
Dead. Destroyed. Devoured by the world.
I know I'm not strong enough to do them justice.
Another precious person stolen from him.
But I know that you are, Nagato-kun. Just as Naomi-chan knows.
Possibly, one of the most precious.
You must be strong. You must be tough.
But there was a difference this time.
But most importantly, you must always look after your family.
She had left behind a son.
For it is in caring for others that true strength can be found, and with it, it is my dream that you can make a better world.
His nephew. His lonely, undoubtedly grieving, nephew.
If anything happens to us, grieve, but do not give up.
Her legacy.
For there is always hope, no matter how bleak the situation may be.
The Deva Path disappeared in a gust of wind.
I blinked.
Hadn't I just been hyperventilating about seeing an anime character in real life?
I looked down at my hands, and I realised that I was myself again.
Ashton Hawthorn.
A British version of Orochimaru.
And when I looked at the figure standing in front of me, almost reaching my neck, I realised where I was.
My mindscape.
Or would it be the kid's mindscape?
Aw, crap.
Now I was looking at the kid's form as it convulsed and flickered.
I took a step forward, but he didn't respond. I felt another headache as a shockwave seemed to go through the blank mindscape. I stumbled, bur righted myself.
What was going on?
What happened now?
I touched the kid's shoulder, trying to wake him up from... whatever it was that was happening to him.
And promptly fell backwards as a wave of memories flew through my mind.
It took a few minutes to parse and process all of them, and the end result... wasn't pretty.
"Holy S***!"
This kid's mom was just killed by F****** ROOT ANBU?!
What were they even doing there?!
Well, actually, I just figured it out.
In hindsight, the kid's red hair should have given it away. Apparently, Danzo wanted some Uzumaki drones in his personal murder squad.
They refused.
And the ANBU proceeded to attack.
It made sense, morbidly enough. Danzo needed children for his ROOT brainwashing manoeuvres. It was much more effective that way.
What's even worse is that his mom went out in the typical hero-mom-sacrifices-herself-to-buy-time-for-child-to-escape style. Assuming he mentally survives this, his mind isn't going to be in the right place without help, if basic Psychology was to be trusted.
The next kicker?
The kid was a triple Kekkei Genkai holder.
I don't even know how that was possible. Weren't dual bloodlines alone really rare because the genes would both fight for dominance or something like that? I think Mei was the only one naturally born with dual bloodlines in canon, unless you count Hashirama's Wood Release and Super Regeneration as desperate bloodlines. I'm pretty sure they were related somehow because Wood Release essentially transmuted you cells into the Jutsu, meaning a wielder would need his cells to regenerate well enough for his Wood Release usage to not be a huge weakness.
I got off topic here.
Apparently it was possible for triple bloodline holders to be born naturally. Only Madara and Naruto gained three bloodlines permanently, and that was through DNA hax for one and Bijuu hax for the other.
And they were damn good bloodlines, if what I could make out was right.
He had the Uzumaki chakra heal thing that Karin has, because his mother tested him for its appearance when he was younger (not that the kid knew what that was all about), and Guren's Kekkei Genkai.
I believe it's called the Crystal Release?
That opened up a lot of options for combat if one was creative enough. It seemed to be a little different from vanilla Shoton, though. He unlocked it when they were chasing him from his house after killing his mother, basically using Stone Edge from Pokemon, Anime Style, except made out of red crystals. Weren't Guren's pink?
Anyways, one of the ROOT ANBU tried to use some sort of sound wave jutsu, like the kind the Wiki hinted could destroy Shoton crystals.
It did jack s***.
That was half the squad down in a single attack, a massive one at that; this kid's chakra reserves were insane. If it weren't for the obvious lack of animal demons, I would've thought he was a Jinchuuriki.
Unfortunately for the kid, Ryujin Uzumaki, who was, now that I think about it, named after a Japanese dragon god, him unlocking his Kekkei Genkai only made them go after him with renewed effort.
So he decided to go and unlock another bloodline.
The Sharingan.
Possibly the most unlikely Kekkei Genkai a dirt-poor Uzumaki clansman could unlock, and it raised a whole bunch of questions, that I'm not really sure I wanted the answer to.
The ROOT ANBU were practically salivating behind their masks, and it looked like the end for the poor kid, but then he ran into the same woman I had seen before.
And Konan was more than happy to tear them apart.
A picture slipped out of his hands and when she picked it up, she seemed to have a heart attack and picked up Ryujin quickly, and the memory faded with a paper Body Flicker.
In conclusion, I was in the body of someone who had the potential to be the next God of Shinobi, who had just lost his mother and had been found by his uncle, who was an S-Rank ninja capable of soloing one of the most powerful Hidden Villages. I'm pretty sure this didn't happen in canon. Unless my whole soul-jacking gig changed something.
Which was another problem.
My constant headaches were starting to annoy me, and that's when it hit me.
Chakra was made of a spiritual/mental component, Yin, and the physical component, Yang. Now, as an Uzumaki, Ryujin probably had a higher amount of Yang chakra than normal, especially due to his endurance, near limitless energy, and healing, but it still wasn't enough to balance out the strain of having two minds. Over double the Yin chakra a normal human being would have. That's why Naras are so smart. Due to their Yin chakra affinity, they've got more of it flowing naturally than a normal human. So their minds are sharper. But at the same time, their Yang chakra was diminished, and not in enough quantity to balance out their enhanced Yin chakra. The end result?
Lazy geniuses.
Which would probably explain why Naruto has so much energy and poor critical thinking capacity; the poor kid had far too much Yang chakra in his system thanks to the half of the Kyuubi he was saddled with. That also explained why he was useless at Genjutsu in spite of having the chakra control to form the Rasengan one-handed, in the future, anyway. Genjutsu was made from Yin chakra, while Iryojutsu was from Yang chakra. And his Yin was currently occupied, and thus he couldn't form enough of it to cast a decent Genjutsu.
Welp.
That was cool and all, but it also made me realise something. The fact that Ryujin/me was comatose and all flickery was because the combined Yin energy of both our minds was too much, even for his enhanced Yang chakra. His body wasn't able to function properly. I'd basically turned him into an Alakazam, minus the psychic power.
Some of it had to be purged, or we'd die here.
Again, on my part.
Which meant one of our minds had to die, and be assimilated by the other in order for this body to survive.
It only took me a few minutes to figure out what had to be done.
I hated it, with every fiber of my being.
I didn't want to do this.
I walked towards Ryujin's flickering form, a sword forming in my hands as I drew upon the power of his mindscape. For someone who had the mind of a Nara, it wasn't that hard.
I stood before him, sword extended.
I really didn't want to do this.
But sometimes, sacrifices had to be made for the greater good. Maybe, with my knowledge, the world of Naruto could finally have lasting peace. All it took was a single life to be taken. The Uzumaki could be rebuilt. Several characters could be saved. Many things were possible.
All if one light was extinguished.
I struck, the non-existent light gleaming off the blade of my sword.
"Who was responsible?", asked the Deva Path, looking down at Ryujin's sleeping form. The resemblance was undeniable. Naomi's soft lips and high cheekbones, along with her trademark Uzumaki hair color were all too prominent in her son.
His nephew.
For some reason, that very thought sent tremors through Nagato's being every time it was brought up. He supposed that's what a familial bond was. And Ryujin wasn't even conscious yet.
His long time friend hesitated, but slowly produced a mask.
A very familiar mask.
The sight of it made the chakra in his coils boil, and the knuckles of the Deva Path visibly cracked as it's fist clenched.
"Shimura.", hissed the body that had once belonged to Yahiko.
"Nagato..", said Konan warily.
Again the crippled old fossil had struck. How many people owed the tragedies in their life to that monster?
A part of him was screaming to tear Konoha down. He still hadn't mastered using the Six Paths of Pain he had created, but with help from Konan and Madara, as well as Itachi and Kisame, two recent additions to the new Akatsuki, he had more than enough strength to destroy the Hidden Leaf.
But another part of him, the old him, before he had lost sight of his original dream in his pain, told him that revenge wouldn't solve anything.
People like Danzo planned for this kind of thing. If he were to raze Konoha, he would be seen as the villain while Shimura was martyred, and the other villages would declare war on Ame.
In essence, the total opposite of peace.
One last reason made him relent, although reluctantly.
What would the boy think of him if he did something like that? What would Yahiko think of him? Jiraiya? Konan? Naomi?
He knew. Just knowing that he was working with Madara would be enough to set the middle two off. Yahiko had been present when Madara had approached them before, and refused his help, assuming the Uchiha had only wanted to use them and throw them out like trash once he was done with them. After his death, however, Nagato had agreed to work with him. Why? Because the aged nukenin actually had his own plan for world peace. A forced peace. One he agreed with. Nagato had learned that if peace wasn't forced, it would be destroyed. Yahiko's death via Hanzo's betrayal only proved that point. Even if he was just used like Yahiko had speculated, he would have played his part in making the world a better, more peaceful place. One where no one would have to be alone like he once was. Just like his best friend and sensei had wanted.
Then why did he suddenly feel that this wasn't what they would have wanted?
He wasn't sure, but he would think on it further at a later date. Right now, he decided no rash actions were warranted. He would get his revenge on Danzo, just like he had on Hanzo. But he would do it on his own terms, carefully, and make sure the man was vilified for his actions.
But for now... he wanted to raise his nephew. Someone who would stand by his side as he brought the world to order. No doubt, it wouldn't be hard to convince him of his ideologies; after all, the boy had probably seen firsthand what the world was like.
Only one thing bothered him. The Sharingan. He had been informed by Konan of its presence, and that was a slight problem. Itachi and Madara were the problems in question. Itachi had killed his whole clan, leaving only one survivor, and Madara had a clear disdain for other Uchihas. Probably because they betrayed him.
He would burn that bridge when it came, Nagato surmised.
"Bring him to me. The real me.", the Deva Path said quietly, ignoring Konan's wide eyes, and disappeared as quickly as he had earlier.
Getting stabbed a second time was just as unpleasant as the first. I winced, feeling the mental blade in my chest.
It was the only way.
As much as I wanted to live again, I had no business, no right, to take over someone else's life and live it. Especially not someone like Ryujin. I had hundreds of plans to bring the Shinobi world to order, pretty much detailing canon, but I knew that in the end, I would only bring upon those endings by doing some morally questionable things. I didn't have the innocent charisma that Naruto, and as I had recently learned, Ryujin seemed to have. I would have to lie, plaster fake smiles, and pretend to be someone else, manipulating the crap out of everyone around me, in order to move forward.
I couldn't do that.
I couldn't steal someone else's life, and I definitely couldn't live a life where I couldn't be myself.
So the obvious conclusion?
I had to take my own life. It wasn't easy, but I consoled myself, knowing it was for the greater good. This sacrifice was, undoubtedly, the greatest thing I had ever done in my life.
But I had left my mark. I deleted all the useless memories I had, minimizing the Yin energy my mind had, and added a plan for a happy ending, one that Ryujin could capitalize on. This, along with all of the science and technology I had learned throughout my life, would become a part of Ryujin, meaning he would have my knowledge, maybe a few of my personality traits, but would essentially be himself.
And I was glad.
The story of Naruto was good.
But it wasn't a story anymore. Ryujin would be dealing with real people here, and thus, the original plan that Kishimoto had laid out would have to be done away with.
I smirked as I felt the last parts of my mind becoming integrated into Ryujin's. I wondered what would happen to the Elemental Nations now.
After all, something entirely new had just made landfall.
And with that thought, I, Ashton Hawthorn was dead.
And I, Ryujin Uzumaki, was restored, and improved.
I woke up with a start, mind whirling at impossible speeds.
What was going on?
I remembered running, after-
"Kaa-chan!", I gasped, the blood draining from my face as I remembered what had happened before I had run into the strange paper woman.
Was she-
"Your mother is dead, little one.", said the voice, one I recognized as belonging to the paper woman.
No.
It couldn't be.
But deep down, I knew. Knew that my kaa-chan, the only light in my lonely world, was gone.
And it hurt more than I could ever have imagined.
As the tears spilled down my face, I could feel a hand on my shoulder.
"Your uncle wants to see you.", she said, and I looked at her, cheeks wet.
Uncle?
"But I don't have an uncle, kunoichi-san.", I said quietly, breaking eye contact with her. "I never knew my tou-chan, and my kaa-chan had a brother, but she said he died in the war."
"I wouldn't think so. Nagato is very much alive."
My eyes widened. Kaa-chan's brother's name was Nagato! He was alive.
At the name Nagato, I had a small pain in my head, and a word appeared.
Pain.
I had no idea what that meant, but I resolved to find out later. That didn't feel like me at all, even though that sounded silly.
I mean, who could I be, other than myself. It's not like I'm someone else, is it?
I'm Ryujin Uzumaki.
Ashton.
Okay, that was starting to get weird.
I looked at the blue-haired lady.
Konan.
Ignoring my new mental voice, I looked at her wiping my cheeks, and jumped off.
Kaa-chan was gone, and that really tore me up inside, but... she wouldn't have wanted me to mope around because of that. She would want me to move on.
I distracted myself by thinking of my new uncle.
What was Nagato-ojisan like?
Following pape- Konan, out the door, I wondered what would happen next.
What would my life become from now on?
And would I be able to find the peace kaa-chan had always wanted?
And that's a wrap. Did you like the twist? I've seen dozens of fanfics where some person from Earth takes over the body of a Naruto character, and moves forward from there. But I've yet to read one where a native character absorbs the mind of someone from Earth, gaining their knowledge. So I've decided to make my own.
I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter. The chapter length for this story is going to be around 5k words per chapter, at least in the beginning, because I need to get the ball rolling before heftier chapters can be made. And heavier chapters take more time.
As for what I'm going to work on next, I have no clue whatsoever, but it's probably going to be one of my other new ideas, one of which is a Pokémon fanfic and the other is a Naruto fanfic.
I'll see you all in the next chapter. Questions and suggestions are welcome, and I sincerely hope this fic is supported. It's something I already like to do, but the support of the masses makes it more worthwhile.
SpatialPhoenix, flying off into the horizon.